Chapter 35 #2
He holds out his hand, and for some reason, it doesn’t feel weird to slip my fingers into his palm. His eyes glass over, and he takes a shaky breath.
“Martha Aldridge, I owe you an apology.”
The man just likely had a ministroke. He doesn’t owe me anything in this moment. “Mr. King. You don’t have to—”
He squeezes my fingers, stopping my protest. “This apology is long overdue. I feel ashamed that it’s only taken me until recently to see that.
” He pauses a moment, gathering his thoughts.
“I could say how a deathbed changes one’s perspective about life and we’re faced with the regrets of our past, and that would be true, but I’m not going to lay here and philosophize.
I want to own up to my mistakes, and the truth is, I was wrong all those years ago.
In so many ways. I never should have said the things I did, nor treated you in such a careless manner. I hope you can forgive me.”
Tears gather in my eyes, but instead of blinking them back, I let them fall.
I never thought I’d hear Mr. King apologize.
His contrition doesn’t take the sting out of the memory of that day or the years I’ve lived with the wound, but I can allow the borders of my thinking to expand to include the fact that everyone makes mistakes.
That we’ve all said and done things in our past that we aren’t proud of and that we wish could be erased.
“I forgive you.” My voice trembles as the sentiment tumbles from my heart.
He offers me a wobbly smile. “How I treated you wasn’t my only mistake. I was wrong about your writing as well. You’re actually quite gifted.”
“What?” I must be hearing things.
“I recently read your manuscript. It’s good, and I wish I’d snatched up the opportunity to acquire your talent when I had the chance.” He looks past my shoulder and juts his chin out. “Do you see my suit jacket over there?”
Dazed, I look behind me. His coat is hanging from a hook on the wall.
“There’s a business card in the pocket. Eva Jenkins is an acquisitions editor friend of mine. I sent her your book, and she’s eager to talk to you. All you have to do is give her a call.”
Like someone else is controlling my body, I walk over and retrieve the card. Is this what Charlie felt like when he held the golden ticket to the chocolate factory in his hands?
I look back over to Mr. King. “I don’t know what to say.”
“To me? You don’t have to say anything. This is all your own hard work.” He gives me a warm smile. “But I do have a message I’d like you to give to Julien for me.”
I look at him expectantly.
“Tell Julien not to waste any more time closing the deal.”
My brows lower. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but relaying a boardroom message in the hospital wasn’t it. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised, should I? Maybe I just thought this would be Mr. King’s wake-up call to change his workaholic habits.
“Of course.” I smile tightly, not wanting to fulfill this errand.
Julien shouldn’t be worried about work-related issues right now.
He has enough stress to deal with while waiting for the MRI results to see if his dad suffered any lasting brain damage.
Although Mr. King seems entirely competent to me, I’m not a doctor.
Mrs. King . . . er, Tabitha—one day Mom?—is standing outside of the room when I open the door. Julien is nowhere in sight.
“I sent Julien to the vending machine to get me a candy bar.” She points down the hallway. “It’s that way and to the left.”
I’m clearly being dismissed, so I follow her directions. When I turn the corner, Julien is bent over, pulling a Snickers bar from the slot at the bottom of the vending machine. He turns, sees me, and smiles.
“Want anything?” He hooks a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the array of snacks behind him.
“No, I’m good. Thanks.” I rock slightly on my toes, still debating if I should give him Mr. King’s message now or not.
“How’d it go with Dad?”
Not at all like I expected. “He apologized and then told me there’s an editor waiting for my call to discuss my series.”
Julien’s eyes light before he pulls me in for a hug. “That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you.”
I smile. I have to admit, I’m pretty happy for me too. After a moment, my smile falls by degrees. Smart or not, I have to give him his dad’s message. “He wanted me to tell you something as well, although I’m not sure if you should be concerned about anything that has to do with work.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted me to tell you to not waste any more time closing the deal.”
Julien throws his head back and laughs, loud and full. It takes me by such surprise that I stumble backward. Julien, however, is quick to catch me. My misstep brings his mirth down a notch, but he’s still grinning wide.
“Why is that so funny?” I’m missing something, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what.
“Dad’s not talking about a deal at work.”
Julien’s blue eyes are shining like newly polished sapphires. I have no idea what Mr. King could have meant if he wasn’t talking about something related to the publishing house, but if it’s making his son this happy, I’m not going to complain.
I am going to ask, though. “What’s he talking about, then?”
“You.” Julien brackets my face and kisses my lips.
“Me?”
He takes my hand and pulls me over to a row of seats.
There are plenty, so we each can have our own, but he tugs me once again onto his lap.
Instead of nuzzling into me this time, he positions us so that our faces are only inches apart.
His exuberance has settled into a contented calm.
There’s a knowing look about him as he gazes into my eyes.
One that reaches inside my heart, hooks into my soul, and steals my breath.
“Martha.” He says my name like it’s his favorite word, savoring it on his tongue.
The hairs along my arms react, gooseflesh rippling along my skin. Awareness crackles and sizzles down my spine, and somehow I know whatever comes out of his mouth next is going to change my world as I know it.
“As a businessman, I make decisions every day. Some take time and data collection in order to know what the right thing to do is, but sometimes there’s a single moment of intuition that strikes like lightning, guiding me without a shadow of a doubt.
When you walked back into my life, it was a lightning strike.
You shook my world with your brilliance, and I knew my life would never be the same.
I chalked it up to simple attraction, but I was only fooling myself.
The deepest parts of my heart recognized you for who you really are—the person I’ve been waiting all these years to find. ”
My heart swells to overflowing. So much so that a silent tear spills over my lid and tracks down my cheek.
Julien leans forward and kisses the salted dewdrop away. “I love you, Martha.”
Julien loves me? Is this real? I may have daydreamed about such a thing as a girl, but none of my wildest fantasies came even close to the reality before me.
Of this man staring at me with pure adoration.
Knowing his heart and his mind as a man of experience and not an untried boy.
Declaring confidently his love and affection and offering me all of his heart.
I cup Julien’s face in my hands and kiss him soundly, my heart nearly bursting out of my chest.
This is crazy, right? Maybe. Probably. Some may say it happened too fast, our love. Then again, others may think taking a lifetime to reach this point was too long. Either way, it feels like it was always meant to end this way. Me and Julien, full circle.
“I love you too,” I say against his lips. “I always have, and I always will.”
He kisses me then. A kiss that is a vow unto itself. Of richer and poorer, sickness and health. A pledge of a thousand tomorrows and endless todays. One where we will always have each other.
A thought enters my head, and I grin, even though I don’t stop our kiss.
“What?” He pulls back slightly to breathe the word across my lips.
“Evangeline and Hayley said the acquisition you were really looking for from me was the ever-after kind.”
He grins back, then nuzzles my nose. “I guess it’s true what they say. Librarians really do know everything.”